- Maria Callas fans spent $1.25 million buying the late singer’s personal things at auction this week. “A Pyrex measuring cup sold for $938, while a French museum paid about $5,000 for a sea-green Christian Dior girdle. The girdle was among numerous intimate objects and underclothes sold by two private collectors.” – Chicago Sun-Times (AP)
Tag: 12.05.00
CHECKING IN WITH LORIN
Conductor Lorin Maazel is 70 and still looking for new challenges. “Not every musician has loved his tough style, but Maazel’s impact on the musical world through weighty interpretations of the classics has been undeniable.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ART STING
U.S. Customs officials in New York marked the opening of a new art fraud investigation center by returning to Germany a 16th-century painting stolen from a German castle by American soldiers after World War II. About 65 percent of all U.S. art imports arrive through the port of New York – investigations there this year alone have already seized $10.5 million worth of stolen art. – CNN
MARBLE SNUB
The Greek ambassador declines a gala invitation to the re-opening of the British Museum after the museum declines a Greek request not to hold a reception in the room that houses the Parthenon marbles. – The Guardian
ADVENTUROUS BUT NOT TOO ADVENTUROUS
The rhetoric of art interpretation seems to have been frozen for the past century. Pushing the edge is still valued as an ideal, but not pushing it too much. “The image reservoir of art can be plumbed without artists having to be aware of betraying their actual mission, and the mere fact that they are still individual and autonomous is exactly what makes them interesting to industry.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
REGIONAL THEATER BOOM
Taking advantage of the strong economy and unprecedented production support from commercial producers, regional theaters are booming across the country, presenting ever more adventurous work and strengthening ties with local audiences. “The point is that the American theater gospel is no longer being spread papally from New York. It has its own independent denominations.” – New York Times
ART OF THE INGRATE
Irish actor Richard Harris surprised even those familiar with his cantankerous ways at last week’s European Film Awards. Upon receiving a lifetime achievement award, he launched into a tirade against the British film industry for overlooking his talents. “The curious thing about the actor’s weekend outburst is why he should care whether the British honour him. This, after all, is a man who constantly asserts his Irishness.” – The Telegraph (UK)
NAME CHANGE
Connecticut’s Goodspeed Opera House has changed its name to Goodspeed Musicals. “In its 37-year history, the Goodspeed Opera House has garnered international acclaim as a producer of musical theater, sending more than 15 shows to Broadway and beyond, including ‘Annie” and ‘Man of La Mancha’.” – Hartford Courant
THE GOOG IN RIO
It looks as though Rio will win out in the global Guggenheim sweepstakes to see who gets to host the next branch of the museum. “The museum’s most likely site is understood to be by Praça Maua, in Rio’s rundown dock area. A dramatic outcrop of rocks between the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches was initially touted but then discarded, as the Guggenheim wants such projects to regenerate urban areas.” – The Guardian
A QUESTION OF SCALE
First looks at the redesigned British Museum have focused on the clean lines and superhuman scale of the new Great Court. But the first exhibition in the new space is a diverse exploration of the human form. “’Human Image’ is perhaps an attempt to bring us down to earth again.” – The Guardian